Any lawyers here?

February 19th, 2009, 01:46 AM

Hey I just wanted to know if there were any lawyers here? I just wanted to know how they would work out those conflicts? And if your a lawyer in your civilian life are you a lawyer in the guard also if your not a lawyer in the guard are you an officer or enlisted? Is JAG a full time position in the guard? Any insight would be appreciated.:D

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There are a couple of attorneys floating around.
I can say that I am no longer in law school (graduated in 2007) but the haze isn't so thick that I can't remember a few things...

I'm not in yet, but thinking of joining and have been floating around this forum and doing a fair amount of research. If you want to be a JAG, you go for direct commission as an officer (you come in at O-2). You do not do basic or OCS, instead you go to 10 days of training at Ft. Lee, then 10.5 weeks of JAG school in Charlottesville, then 4 weeks of DCO and 6 weeks of BOLC II at either Ft. Sill or Ft. Benning. If you follow this path, you can only ever be a JAG.

As an attorney, you do not have to be a JAG. You could enlist or you could join as a regular officer (by going to OCS...more on here know more about that than I do).

As for conflicts, I don't think there would be a problem (unless you/your firm is adverse to the government/U.S. Army or something). Since there are a couple of thousand part-time JAGs between the guard/reserve, conflicts must not be an issue. Another JAG could chime in more on this.

There are a few full-time JAGs (I think for each state, again, someone on here knows this in more detail) but the vast majority are part-time.

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Thanks! I have several roots Im working on right now. One is enlisting as a cavalry scout, Intelligence analyst or infantry. The other is doing one of these but eventually through ROTC becoming an officer (my city has infantry so probably an infantry officer). Or becoming a JAG lawyer. Or finally just doing ROTC to see if I like it, and then becoming an officer. So I have a lot of stuff Im thinking about :o . My college and civilian career (at least for now) is decided but who knows sometimes life seems way to short I want to experience everything! :)

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Got it. A direct commission as a JAG requires a four year degree (BA or BS...doesn't matter what kind) plus a JD from an ABA accredited law school (three years if you go full-time) and being admitted to any state (including District of Columbia) bar.

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By way of background, I'm a 41 year-old attorney with no prior military service. I'm good at what I do and take pride in my work, but in the end after a 50-60 hour week even if I've done my job well all I've accomplished is keeping money in the hands of my insurance company employer and out of the hands of personal injury plaintiffs. As time goes on I'm getting less and less satisfaction out of my work but I have two young kids and I'm fairly well paid so I'm not complaining.

I've been thinking of military service for probably half my life, but have never done anything about it. Now with the prospect of aging out of eligibility in the near future and the desire to do something I can be proud of I'm seriously considering enlisting in the Guard. Call it patriotism meets midlife crisis. Yesterday I registered myself on the website and am waiting to speak to a recruiter.

I know the logical choice for me would be JAG, but the thought of doing legal work all week and then doing more for the Guard is not that appealing. Can anyone point me in the direction of other opportunities in the Guard that would be a good match for me? Thanks in advance for any advice or insights you might have.

[QUOTE=JBR;140849]By way of background, I'm a 41 year-old attorney with no prior military service. ... I know the logical choice for me would be JAG, but the thought of doing legal work all week and then doing more for the Guard is not that appealing. Can anyone point me in the direction of other opportunities in the Guard that would be a good match for me? Thanks in advance for any advice or insights you might have.[/QUOTE]

Stop and contact your local recruiter right now. You have a very small window of opportunity to get in before it's too late. If you aren't actually sitting in Basic Training on the day prior to your 42d birthday, then you've run out of time. Even a JAG appointment would be cutting it close.

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[QUOTE=matthew.ritchie;140881]Stop and contact your local recruiter right now. You have a very small window of opportunity to get in before it's too late. If you aren't actually sitting in Basic Training on the day prior to your 42d birthday, then you've run out of time. Even a JAG appointment would be cutting it close.